Greetings all. I recently completed scanning a waste water treatment plant. Client would now like to use scans for bid documents. How is this handled now; do you supply potential bidders with the pointcloud and viewing software? Other methods? Interested to see what everyone does out there. Thanks in advance for your replies.

John,
You can provide the point cloud and free viewing software as one option. We use Leica products and can provide Jetstream access for a client or we can do TruView by means of TruView Global or can provide a TruView local. You can bring in the point cloud to a cad program and generate cad drawings, but that can be time consuming. I would think it depends on what the bidders need to look at. TruViews allow measurements to be made.

We are finding that clients really like the RECAP software and increasingly, people are asking for data to be delivered in that format. It's free and gives them all the advantages of TruView, plus they can fly around the point cloud if they are so inclined.

We are another platform that uses the Potree engine (http://www.3dusernet.com), but we added database functionality to help store and recover measurements, notes, views and 'states' (which records different stages of your projects). You can also add 3D models, so you can show proposed designs or other changes to the scene too. It is also Private so you can control who sees your data and when.

It works with desktop computers and mobile smart devices just as seamlessly through any modern web browser, and it means you and your clients can share and collaborate far more easily than passing large datasets and software installers around. It has also been designed for use by both technical and non-technical staff, meaning a much broader audience can experience the data you have collected.

Here's how it works:
1) You signup for an account
2) You create a project/s
3) You upload your dataset/s and it gets converted to a format that can stream online (original file also gets stored in case you want to share that too)
4) You invite other users (in your account), temporary guests or make the project public for people to see (Public links have a URL that you can put into a digital document or embed in an iframe to show your project)